The stakes were high this past week within Greek Life at Shippensburg University, as fraternities and sororities competed for the coveted slot of Greek Week champions.

Banners could be seen all around the Ceddia Union Building (CUB), representing each organization as well as the theme for 2016, “Welcome to the Jungle.” Fraternities and sororities participated in a number of games that kicked off on Sunday, April 3. Each organization selects certain members on a volunteer basis to participate in each event. Many participated in numerous events while some only a few. The events included basketball, volleyball, a costume contest, trivia, tug-of-war, a 1 mile run and others all leading up to the largest competition, lip sync.

Members of Greek Life take this week very seriously. The competitive edge of some also took over for the week, creating immense drive and dedication to take home a win. Injuries can be very common within the events throughout the week. Olivia Guerin, of Alpha Sigma Tau, was injured in a heated dodge ball tournament.

“I was sitting on the sidelines and I was hit square in the face with a dodge ball,” she said. “The next morning I was told I had a concussion after I went to Etter Health Center. Even though I could not participate, I still cheered on my sorority.”

Fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa,, held a steady lead early on in the week, after placing high in nearly all events, with wins in football, the costume contest, basketball and volleyball. Alpha Omicron Pi also led the sororities with wins in dodge ball, trivia and a tie for first in the banner competition with Kappa Beta Gamma.

On Thursday, April 7, the final event of lip sync took place in Memorial Auditorium. Students from all different organizations at SU packed the auditorium, some unable to even find a seat. Some people’s families came out to support their loved ones, as well as some alumni who returned for their organizations.

Many fraternities and sororities prepared weeks in advance for this event, as it is the most popular and some may say their favorite. Kenny Miles of Tau Kappa Epsilon concluded his last Greek Week with a win at lip sync, tying with Theta Xi for first place.

“Lip sync is the best event in Greek Week because you work so hard at practice trying to critique everything to make it perfect,” Miles said. “Everyone tries so hard to make theirs the best, which I think is why everyone loves it because they work so hard at it.”

Each act in the lip sync competition focused their routines on an original theme created by each organization. Kappa Beta Gamma, the third place winning sorority, based its performance on the final song in the film, “Pitch Perfect.” The brothers of Pi Lambda Phi performed a mash-up of songs from “Jersey Boys.”

In the end, it was the sisters of Alpha Phi who took first place at lip sync for their “Willy Wonka” inspired routine. It was Theta Xi and Tau Kappa Epsilon who took the win for the fraternities for their “Through the Decades” performance and “Welcome to the Jungle” performance, respectively.

At the conclusion of Greek Week, it was the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi and brothers of Phi Sigma Kappa who came out on top of the entire week-long competition. Sydney Dore, a sister of Alpha Omicron Pi, who competed in the eating contest, was very excited to be a part of the winning sorority this year.

“It feels really good. We worked really hard to win and we really came together,” Dore said. “Being in the lead for so long really pushed us and encouraged us. It really brought us all together.”

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